Angling/Fishing

Oh, give me grace to catch a fish

So big that even I

When talking of it afterwards

May have no need to lie ! Anon

Angling is reputed to be the most popular sport in UK, although it may be necessary to qualify this by saying ‘outdoorsport’ in order to exclude couch potato football watching .The term ‘angling’ includes course fishing, and sea angling but normally excludes fly fishing and deep sea fishing .Whilst angling sounds a solitary sport, there are many angling clubs and competitions which keep enthusiasts networking with their peer group.

Although the object of all angling must be to catch fish, the process of trying to attract a salmon, even if unsuccessful, is so relaxing that for me, the catch becomes almost incidental. However, there is no doubt that if and when a salmon does take your fly, the effect on the angler (and the fish too, I suppose) is electrifying.

Another attraction of salmon fishing, particularly in the North, is the beauty of the countryside in which salmon are alleged to lie. The salmon rivers Dee, Spey, Tay, Tweed etc. in Scotland tend to flow through pretty parts of that country. My favourite river though, purely on aesthetic grounds, is the Eden in Cumbria, at Lazonby. This is one of the most beautiful beats in Great Britain. The salmon clearly like it too because whenever I'm there, they seem determined not to leave! Catches for UK rivers are recorded monthly in 'Trout & Salmon'. http://www.gofishing.co.uk/troutandsalmon/